Italy’s finest return to action after their winter break with a tasty round of fixtures across Sunday and Monday. Recent history would suggest that Napoli vs Inter takes top billing even though the two teams are 18 points apart. I think the Partenopei will at the very least strive to start the second half of the season with a motivated mindset, which will lead to a share of the spoils with title chasing Inter. Then there’s Zlatan’s second coming which should inspire Milan to a better performance than their last outing when they were routed by Atalanta. Speaking of Atalanta, they welcome a tricky Parma side and their on-loan hotshot Dejan Kulusevski, who has just been sold to Juventus. The hosts should be favoured, but Parma have been excellent against those above them so I am going for a draw. Cagliari were the surprise team of the first half but they just started running out of steam and I expect Juve to have too much for the Sardinians at home. Finally, November and December saw the two Roman sides probably play the best football in Italy. Though they face tricky opponents, I am expecting Lazio and Roma to get wins.
Round 18 Picks
Brescia 1 Lazio 3
SPAL 1 Verona 1
Genoa 2 Sassuolo 1
Roma 2 Torino 0
Bologna 2 Fiorentina 1
Milan 2 Sampdoria 1
Atalanta 2 Parma 2
Juventus 3 Cagliari 1
Lecce 0 Udinese 0
Napoli 2 Inter 2